Balram Jakhar remembered on birth anniversary

Balram Jakhar, former Speaker, Lok Sabha, was remembered in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan on his birth anniversary on Saturday.

Harivansh, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha; Members of Parliament; former Members; and Secretary-General Lok Sabha Utpal Kumar Singh paid tributes to Jakhar. Senior Officers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariats also paid tributes on this occasion.

Balram Jakhar was elected Speaker of the Seventh Lok Sabha on January 22, 1980, and continued until January 15, 1985. He was re-elected unanimously as Speaker of the Lok Sabha to the Eighth Lok Sabha on January 16, 1985, and continued for the full term up to December 18, 1989.

Jakhar had the unique distinction of being the only Lok Sabha Speaker in independent India to have presided over two successive Lok Sabhas for their full terms.

Hailing from an agricultural family, Jakhar also served as the Union Minister of Agriculture during the Tenth Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996.

Jakhar breathed his last on February 3, 2016. The portrait of Balram Jakhar was unveiled by then-President Pranab Mukherjee on February 10, 2014.

Jakhar's son, Sunil Jakhar, is currently a member of the Punjab BJP.